


autumn warmth

by loosingletters



Series: Lost Tales of Gotham [5]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Baby Damian Wayne, Batfamily Feels, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Domestic Fluff, Family, Good Parent Talia al Ghul, Happy Batfam, Multi, Selina Kyle is a Good Parent, they are in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 20:49:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20180500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loosingletters/pseuds/loosingletters
Summary: An average day in a household of three parents, a teenager, and a baby, a British grandfather and butler and too many cats to counts.





	autumn warmth

**Author's Note:**

> Anon brutalina prompt about Bruce comforting his two wives ofc I had to write it.  
I based baby Damian on my baby cousin with whom I got to spend the last 2 weeks. She’s so adorable. I want one. Like not 24/7 but just when you need a hug buddy.

Bruce and Talia were not morning people. Period. It was part of the vigilante-and-parents-of-a-one-year-old lifestyle. If you regularly stayed up late until the early morning to fight out on the streets and then return to a baby, chances were you’d be grumpy in the morning and not as presentable as your British company would like. Bruce’s hair stuck in all directions and to Alfred’s unvoiced but heavily implied displeasure, he’d shown up to the breakfast table wearing only the shorts he’d slept in. Sleepiness clung to him even after his second cup of black tea and he decided right then and there that in case nobody else actually needed him this morning, he’d crawl back into bed with Damian for his nap.

Usually, Talia was the one who slept another round with their son in the mornings since Selina went to her gallery, but she had a Wayne Enterprises meeting at eleven and had to get ready. Though right now, she looked about as awake as him, even if she had put more effort into her appearance. She was wearing a green cardigan above her nightgown and had brushed her hair.

There was a reason that Alfred liked every family member more than Bruce before lunchtime.

And Damian and Selina, the other two early risers besides Alfred, were his favorites.

“Hello, Sleeping beauty,” Selina greeted when she and entered the kitchen. She shifted her hold on Damian so that she could give Talia a quick peck on the cheek.

“Good Morning, Dearest,” Talia replied. “And hello, my little Prince. Since when have you been up again?”

Damian giggled and hid his face in the crook of Selina’s neck. Then he turned away from it, only so slightly that he could look at his mother for a second, before laughing and hiding away again.

“Two hours ago. We’ve kept busy playing with Diamond and Spade.”

According to Bruce’s research, children liked animals, so it shouldn’t have been such a surprise that Damian loved the many cats that roamed the manor. But those two especially he seemed to adore. Whenever they were in the room, everyone and everything else was suddenly uninteresting.

“I’m starting to get jealous of them,” Talia said, though her smile spoke of her joy.

Talia and Selina had been more rested and happier recently, and Bruce cherished every moment. It was a harsh change from the beginning where every display of true affection had been hidden away behind a fortress of fear. Not that Bruce had been or was any better. Truthfully speaking, most of the time he thought he was the most emotionally constipated of them all. Emotions were like an uncontrollable tidal wave you couldn’t escape. Of course, they scared people who had spent most of their lives wearing one or another kind of mask.

“You’re still Dick’s number one though,” Selina said and put Damian down in his high-chair. He immediately began to smash the potatoes and carrots Alfred had cooked for him into even tinier pieces. Then, after stretching her arms above her head, Selina sat down next to Bruce, giving him a quick kiss as well.

“Thank you, Dearest, but we all know that isn’t true,” Talia replied.

She and Selina both shot Bruce a dirty look, and he tried extremely hard to not grin at them.

He failed.

Sue him, but he was happy that his teenage son still thought he was the coolest. All the other parents - including heroes - always complained about how distant their children were becoming, but Dick was still as affectionate as he had been as a preteen. Looking at the kitchen’s clock though, Bruce frowned. It was almost time for school and Dick still hadn’t shown up for breakfast.

“Where is Dick?”

“Doing homework,” Alfred spoke up. “I believe he wasn’t exactly truthful last night when he said he only had a few exercises to do.”

Alfred was already packing Dick’s lunchbox for school, which was more filled than usual with a variety of sandwiches and fruits. No sweets today though.

Bruce sighed. “I’ll talk to him later.”

Dick always had a hard time adjusting to school life after a break filled with heroics. Doing math simply didn’t measure up to going after back robbers.

As if summoned by their discussion, Dick came running down the hallway. The fifteen-year-old was already wearing his school uniform, even if it was a little more wrinkled than Alfred had ironed it the previous day.

“Good morning, we’re late!” He shouted in passing and only stopped to ruffle Damian’s hair and take the lunchbox out of Alfred’s hands. “I’m getting the car to the front, see you there, Alfred!”

Dick rushed out of the kitchen again, heading towards the garage.

“Does he know that we took away the car keys after the last incident?” Selina spoke up as soon as Dick was out of earshot.

“No.”

x

The day continued on as pleasantly as the morning. Once Talia had left, Selina went to feed all her cats and Bruce tried to go back to bed, but Damian had a different idea. Thus, instead of settling in his king-sized very comfortable bed, Bruce ended up on his slightly less welcoming sofa in the baby-proofed TV/living room where Damian could happily build towers.

It still caught Bruce off-guard to see how much of a genuinely cheerful child Damian was. He only cried when he hurt himself and rarely threw any tantrums. Most of the time, he just softly spoke to himself or showed his affection by hugging someone’s legs or, if in reach, gently squishing their cheeks. Bruce could spend ages just watching his son slowly explore the world around him.

After about two hours, Damian finally tired and decided to nap on Bruce’s chest.

X

“They’re adorable!”

“Don’t wake them up, Dick, they need their sleep.”

“Dami is already half-awake though. And I stayed up as long as Bruce yesterday and I’m not as tired.”

“Bruce is an old man already.”

When Bruce finally opened his eyes, Damian was staring into them with his own still baby blue eyes. Damian gurgled and put his hands on Bruce’s face.

“You’re my age, Selina,” Bruce muttered when he finally sat up.

He put Damian on the ground, and the boy immediately waddled over to the other sofa, where Dick and Selina were curled up next to each other. Dick with a comic book in hand and Selina holding onto the TV remote. As soon as Damian reached the sofa, Dick picked him up and showed him his comic.

“But you’re an old soul, Bat. Less 29 and more 87.”

Bruce rolled his eyes and threw one of the sofa pillows after her which of course she caught with ease. “Thank you, Selina.”

“You’re welcome. Now, do you want to watch _Night at the museum_ with us or not?”

Bruce contemplated staying on his sofa out of sheer protest, but that also put the tea out of his reach. From the way Selina was smirking at him, he deduced that she knew it as well.

Well, his ego wasn’t so big that he couldn’t admit defeat once in a while.

X

Talia returned home the minute Alfred put dinner on the table. She was frowning, and Bruce had no doubt that he’d get to hear about incompetent board directors later on. Dick chatted away about his day, throwing in one or two or three unsubtle allusions to Robin every five minutes they all ignored, and understood every babble from Damian as serious input to his narration. Alfred took to reminding them about the harvest gala at the end of the month and usually this would be the moment Selina pitched in to tell them about what arrangements she had made so far, but beyond a few vague ideas, she didn’t say much.

Talia and Bruce exchanged worried looks but didn’t say anything. With Selina, you had to wait until she came to you.

After dinner, Dick ran off to chat even more with his friends, Talia brought Damian to bed, and Selina disappeared in their bedroom. Bruce headed to the Batcave to do some last security checks. They didn’t have any active cases and if no alarm rang, he wouldn’t head out today.

It had already gone dark hours ago, but by the time Bruce fell into bed, Talia and Selina were already sleeping, hogging the blankets as usual.

X

It was a grip on his arm that woke him up. It hadn’t taken much, Bruce was a slight sleeper, and he sat upright in bed. Selina’s black nails were digging into his arm, and she didn’t let go until her breathing evened. She didn’t shed a single tear, her shoulders didn’t even move. Selina didn’t cry unless she could gain something from it.

“Can I help you?” Bruce asked once she had calmed down.

They hadn’t had a bad night in a while, Bruce should have expected this. There was something about peaceful days that put them all on edge.

Bruce wanted to ask a hundred things. Know all there was to Selina. What exactly happened on her trip to the gallery, whether that had anything to do with the fact that she was wearing Talia and Bruce’s clothes instead of her own if she was aware how loved she was-

But that was too much right now. Instead, Bruce just pulled her close and wrapped the blanket around them.

“Where is Talia?” Selina asked after a few minutes.

They both turned right to look at the bathroom, but the door was closed and no remains of light could be seen at the floor.

Seemed like Talia hadn’t had slept well either.

“Probably with one of the boys. We should go look for her.”

X

They found Talia just outside the hallway, sitting in the space between the doors to Dick’s room and Damian’s nursery. Her back was straight and her legs folded beneath her while her sword laid on her lap. The pose was a familiar one. Bruce recalled spending hours sitting like this in the wilderness, waiting for one of his teachers to silently approach him and attempt to cut him down.

At least the sword was still in his sheath. She wasn’t actually preparing for an attack, just for the possibility of one.

“You’re keeping watch over the boys tonight?”

Talia replied with a short nod and moved only slightly to accommodate for Selina making herself comfortable next to her.

“You know they’re safe, right?”

Another nod.

“No harm will come to them.”

Talia took a deep breath and leaned towards Selina.

“They’re safe, just sleeping behind the doors. And Damian will wake up again in the morning, and we’ll play with the cats as always while you and Bruce still sleep.”

“Dick will get up on time and argue that it means he can take long patrols during the week. And Alfred…”

Selina kept talking, reminding Talia and herself of the everyday life of the manor. Bruce, meanwhile, went to fulfill his role of the night. He went down to the kitchen, narrowly avoiding stepping on one of the cats. Bruce turned on the stove and poured milk, honey, chocolate, and cinnamon in a pot. Once the hot chocolate was done, he fetched three cups and poured the liquid into them. Bruce took the tray specifically reserved for carrying tea, coffee, and hot chocolate from the same cupboard and made his way upstairs again. After a quick detour into their bedroom, Bruce settled down next to his lovers with the warm beverage, their blanket, and two big pillows.

Talia’s head was now wholly resting on Selina’s left shoulder.

“Thank you, Beloved,” she said when Bruce handed her a mug.

It wasn’t the first time the three of them spent camping out in one of the hallways instead of the bed and it certainly wouldn’t be the last though. For now, though, with skin touching skin, reassuring them that everyone was home, and a blanket to cover them, all was well.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear what you think!


End file.
